While the technology dates back to the 1960s, the first uses of augmented reality seen by the general population came in the late ‘90s when the NFL (National Football League) began to overlay a yellow line indicating the distance needed for a first down on the field which could be seen on televised broadcasts of the game. More recent developments have brought the technology to video games and shopping apps that let you see what a piece of furniture will look like in your room.
Unlike virtual reality, which allows users to interact with completely artificial spaces, augmented reality brings some of those virtual or artificial elements and overlays them in the real world with the use of cameras and displays or headsets. The xvision™ Spine System, from Illinois-based Augmedics, Ltd., uses a headset with retinal projection to create a heads-up display that shows 3D anatomical and instrument detail overlaid on the patient the surgeon still sees on the operating table.
The system allows surgeons to see what they normally see with a navigation system on an external screen overlaid on the patient.
It is intended to improve accuracy, particularly in freehand pedicle screw placement, and to provide visualization in open or percutaneous procedures. With the system, the surgeon doesn’t need to move his or her head, or work while staring at a screen.
The xvision system received FDA clearance in December 2019 and had been used previously in cadaver studies. The first surgery was completed June 8, 2020 on a patient at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The operation was completed by a trio of surgeons including Director of the Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery Spinal Fusion Laboratory, Timothy Witham, M.D., Director of Spine Tumor and Spine Deformity Surgery in the Department of Neurosurgery, Daniel Sciubba, M.D., and Resident of Neurological Surgery, Camilo Molina, M.D. The surgeons performed a posterior lumbar decompression and fusion for the patient.
